Bottle-cap.



No. 675,36l. Patented May 28, I90l. J."S.TUCKEB.

BOTTLE CAP.

(Application filed Oct. 2, 1899. J

v (No Model.)

NITiEDf STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH S. TUCKER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BOTTLE-CAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 675,361, dated May 28, 1901. Ap lication filed October 2, 1899- Serial No. 732,391. (No-model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH S. TUCKER, of Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Caps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bottle-caps, and has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive device of this character which may be readily applied to and removed from the bottle and which when in position will serve to effectively retain the cork or stopper within the mouth of the bottle and protect the same.

To these ends my invention consists in certain novel features, which I will now proceed to describe and will then particularly point out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figu're 1 is a plan view of the blank from which my improved bottle-stopper is constructed. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the mouth of a bottle having my improved cap applied thereto. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but viewed from the opposite side; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view illustrating a modified form of my invention.

The blank from which my improved cap is constructed is preferably cut from sheet metal=-such, for instance, as tin-plate and may be readily and cheaply produced from this material by the use of suitable dies. It comprises an annular portion 1, the internal diameter of which is sufficient to permit it to pass downward over the shoulder formed on the exterior of the bottle-neck. At one side this annular portion is provided with a tab or finger-grasp 2, which is preferably circular in shape, as shown, and provided with a slotopening 3 to receive the tongue of the cap hereinafter referred to. The blank also comprises a cap proper or top 4, which is preferably circular in form and of a size such as to cover and protect the exposed end of the cork or stopper. This cap proper or top is connected with the annular portion 1, the connection being integral and preferably consisting of strips 5, which in the blank before this latter is shaped up are substantially tangent to the annular portion 1 and cap proper or top 4, extending from the side margins of the former to the similar margins of the latter and converging, as shown in Fig. 1. The

blank also comprises a tongue 6, connected with and extending outward from the cap proper or top 4 in a direction opposite to that in which the arms or strips 5 extend. The inner blank is preferably cut from a single sheet of metal, so that all of the parts hereinbefore enumerated are integral or in one piece.

The bottle-neck with which my improved cap is to be used is indicated at 7 and is provided with an external shoulder 8, the cork or stopper being indicated at 9.

In applying my improved cap the annular portion 1 is passed downward around the neck of the bottle until it is below the shoulder 8. The tab or finger-grasp 2 is then seized between the thumb and forefinger and twisted or turned so as to twist upon itself the adjacent portion of the annular body 1, thereby reducing its diameter until it becomes less than that of the shoulder portions 8 of the neck of the bottle. The annular portion 1 will thus be reduced in size, so as to cause it to seat itself under the shoulder 8 in the manner shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4 of the drawings. The parts 5 are then bent upward at or near their point of junction with the annulus 1, and the cap proper or top 4 is bent down so as to rest upon the top of the cork or stopper, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The tongue 6 is then bent downward and its end inserted through the slot or opening 3 in the tab 2, whereupon by drawing-upward the open end of the tongue 6 the cap proper, 4, may be firmly held in position against the end of the cork and locked in this position by giving the tongue 6a sharp bend and permanent set at the point where it passes through the slot 3. When the parts are in this position, the cap firmly holds the cork in place and protects the same. When it is desired to remove the cap, this may be readily accomplished either by disengaging the tongue 6 from the tab 2 or by breaking the cap by inserting a suitable instrument between it and the cork or bottleneck.

While the particular form shown is one which I deem the best embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise details of construction set forth, as it is obvious that these details may be varied without departing from its the principle of my invention. I have found it advisable in some cases, particularly where the shoulder 8 is rounded, to give a corresponding curvature to the annularportion 1, and such a modified construction is shown in detail in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

I claim 1. A bottle-cap, comprising a flexible annular-portion, normally of largerinternal diameter than the external diameter of the shoulder of the bottle-neck, a tab or -fingergrasp connected with one side of said annular portion, whereby the latter may be twisted,a cap properor top flexibly connected with the other side of said annular portion, and a flexible tongue connected with said cap proper or top and adapted to engage the tab, substantially as described.

2. A bottle-cap consisting of a single integral piece of sheet metal and comprising a circumferentially-complete annular portion, a cap portion connected with one side of said annular portion, a tongue connected with the opposite side of said annular portion and means for interlocking the tongue and cap extensions, substantially as described.

3. Abottle-cap, consisting of a single integral sheet of flexible sheet metal, and comprising an annular portion, a slotted tab connected therewith at one side, a cap proper or the shoulder of the neck, and a cap proper connected with said annulus, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a bottle havinga shouldered neck, of a bottle-cap comprising an integral annulus of flexible sheet metal, a tab or finger-grasp connected therewith and whereby said annulus may be twisted to reduce its diameter, and a cap proper or top permanently connected with one side of said annulus and adapted to be detachably'connected with the tab on the other side, substantially as described.

JOSE PII S; TUCKER;

\Vitnesses:

FREDERICK O. GOODWIN, IRVINE MILLER. 

